A Miscellany 279
Election considerations
by: JT
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It is once again election time in the US.
I know the state of politics in the USA is currently very frustrating. If in spite of that, you have made up your mind who to vote for, then get out and vote. Support the candidate who best reflects your own views.
But, if you are unable to decide, or if you have decided just to opt out of the political process completely, then I ask you to consider two quotations published in Meditation 860 in this week's update.
Now they are both from Canadian Prime Ministers - one from the 1890s, and one from the 1970s, but both show an understanding of the separation of church and state, which, while not included in the Canadian constitution, they seem to have a better understanding of than many US politicians.
So long as I have a seat in this house, so long as I occupy the position I do now, whenever it shall become my duty to take a stand on any question whatsoever, that stand I will take, not from the point of view of Roman Catholicism, not from the point of view of Protestantism, but from a point of view which can appeal to the consciences of all men, irrespective of their particular faith, upon grounds which can be occupied by all men who love justice, freedom, and toleration. Sir Wilfred Laurier
My whole position on morality versus criminality is that the criminal law should not be used to express the morality of one group, religious or pressure groups, or others. The criminal law is not made to punish sin, it is meant to prevent or deter anti-social conduct. Pierre Elliott Trudeau
If you have nothing else on which to base a decision, before you cast a ballot ask yourself: "Which candidate is more likely to conduct the affairs of the nation in accordance with those policies?"
And remember - there are those politicians who promise to bring back the values of the past. Do you think they understand that those quotations reflect some of the values of that past?